A Life Course Approach to Chronic Diseases Epidemiology

Edited by Diana Kuh and Yoav Ben Shlomo

Description

The first edition in 1997 of A Life Course Approach to Chronic Disease Epidemiology became a classic text for epidemiological and public health researchers interested in the childhood origins of adult chronic disease. Since then the new field of life course epidemiology has expanded rapidly, attracting the interest not only of academics across the health and social sciences but also policy makers, funding bodies, and the general public. Its purpose is to study how biological and social factors during gestation, childhood, adolescence and earlier adult life independently, cummulatively and interactively influence later life health and disease. Contributors to this fully revised second edition capture the excitement of the developing field and asses the latest evidence regarding sources of risk to health across the life course and across generations. The original chapters on life course influences on cardiovascular disease, diabetes, blook pressure, respiratory disease and cancer have been updated and extended. New chapters on life course influences on obesity, biological ageing and neuropsychiatric disorders have been added. Life course explanations for disease trends and for socioeconomic differentials in disease risk are given more attention in this new edition, reflecting recent developments in the field. The section on policy implications has been expanded, assessing the role of interventions to improve childhood social circumstances, as well as interventions to improve early growth. Emerging new research themes and the theoretical and methodological challenges facing life course epidemiology are highlighted.

A Life Course Approach to Chronic Diseases Epidemiology

Edited by Diana Kuh and Yoav Ben Shlomo

Table of Contents

List of contributorsForewordSection A - Background 1. Introduction: a life course approach to the aetiology of adult chronic disease, Diana Kuh and Yoav Ben-Shlomo2. The life course and adult chronic disease: an historical perspective with particular reference to coronary heart disease, Diana Kuh and George Davey SmithSection B - Life course influences on adult chronic disease 3. Pre-adult influences on cardiovascular disease, Yoav Ben-Shlomo, Debbie Lawlor and David Leon4. A life course approach to socioeconomic differentials with special reference to cardiovascular disease, George Davey Smith and John Lynch5. Ischaemic heart disease and cerebrovascular disease mortality trends with special reference to England and Wales: are there cohort effects?, Clive Osmond and Rebecca Hardy6. Geography and migration with special reference to cardiovascular disease, Jonathan Elford and Yoav Ben-Shlomo7. A life course approach to diabetes, Nita Forouhi, Lisa Hall and Paul McKeigue8. A life course approach to overweight and obesity, Matthew Gillman9. A life course approach to blood pressure, Peter Whincup, Derek Cook and Johanna M Geleijnse10. A life course approach to respiratory and allergic diseases, Aziz Sheikh and David P Strachan11. A life course approach to cancer epidemiology, Nancy Potischman, Rebecca Troisei and Lars Vatten12. Time trends in cancer incidence and mortality, Isabel dos Santos Silva13. A life course approach to biological ageing, Avan Aihie Sayer andCyrus Cooper14. A life course approach to neuropsychiatric disorders, Ezra Susser and Pam Factor-LitvakSection C - Biological and social processes 15. Fetal growth and developement: the role of nutrition and intergenerational factors, Ivan J Perry and LH Lumey16. Pathways between childhood socioeconomic circumstances and adult health, Diana Kuh, Chris Power, David Blane and Mel BartleySection D - Implications for policy and future research 17. Should we intervene to improve fetal growth?, KS Joseph and Michael Kramer18. Should we intervene to improve childhood circumstances?, W Thomas Boyce and Daniel Keating19. Conclusions, Yoav Ben-Shlomo and Diana Kuh